The HNIC of this section has a site, check him out. Or check out Coan's site. I know CK performance sells some if not all those parts. I get my stuff from Jake's performance, but I don't believe he's selling individual components anymore, too many doofus' being doofus'.

 

I'm a Rossler fan and user. If you can afford it, it is clearly the way to go if you have then means. Lots of gear options as well.

 

I just emailed Chris at Ck Performance and im waiting him to reply back ,so many people recommended him , he makes his own parts

 

Hutch or Coan great customer service and parts will be there when promised.

You building your own or purchasing a unit?

 

Purchasing a unit

 

Steel sleeves in the drums where the sealing rings ride is an absolute must, drag race only or street/strip use. Talk to Charlie at ATD Automatic Transmission Design about this. Aluminum drums without steel wear surfaces will quickly require a $2000-$3000 refresh.

 

Ace Racing transmission Gilbert is owner. Builds with quality parts and is almost all racing cars with well over what your goal is. He posts up here on occasion

https://www.facebook.com/aceracing.transmissions/

 

Steel sleeves in aluminum are not a must according to ATI. They say that the sleeve can move around with heat. I have had one of their direct drums in mine for 200 street miles and 50 passes without issue so far. They say they have many people street driving these without issue, and warranty them for a year. When you buy one from them they come with a machined center support that has a bronze area between the last 2 seals and of course you cannot use cast rings against them. Could be a bad idea over a long period of time, just another opinion.

 

I street drove one for about 3500-4000 street miles, Trans brake got slow to set, cost me a couple of races redlighting. Took it apart, hub had an 1/8" groove which also killed the direct clutches. Listen to who you want, not many beat on their stuff as hard as I do, I'm just trying to help you.

 

This guy is spot on. They need to be sleeved. If you sleeve them and the sleeves move around, you installed the sleeves wrong. Im sleeving my forward drum now because it has grooves and sleeving my direct before they become grooves.

Bought some stainless tubing and machined sleeve to my specs. .003 press fit, drum goes in boiling water, sleeve sits in freezer, some locktite and a press, the sleeve isnt going to move

 

Is it ATI that sells the hard anodized direct? Those things become a wear item anyway, but I'd like to get a little more life than 4K street miles. I'm going to polish and deburr the center support tower on the one I'm putting together now for this very reason.

 

If you're going to purchase a unit from someone you may want to ask THEM what they recommend for your use/application. They are the ones that have to stand behind it with their name. Just a thought.

Another thought along the lines of the drum: http://www.coanracing.com/Catalog.asp?ProductDetail=1826
Or better yet lighter weight: http://www.coanracing.com/Catalog.asp?ProductDetail=2174

 

...
Or better yet lighter weight: http://www.coanracing.com/Catalog.asp?ProductDetail=2174

Charlie @ATD builds many many Pro4, Pro2, Pro Lite, and desert class off road Th400's. They've used every part from nearly every manufacturer to find the best combination of strength and durability. Their off road customers will order 2-4 of the same $7000-$12,000 transmission and go as far as changing them between heats and mains to keep them cool and fresh clutches in the trucks. I can just about guarantee you that NO DRAG RACING transmission get abused like an off road trans. If you want an extreme transmission for your street/strip car, consult and purchase from someone than builds for more than 1800-3200# cars that only get beat on a 1/8-1/4 mile at a time.

These are hands down the 2 best suggestions on this thread. Shane is spot on regarding aluminum drum life. The steel drums suggested by Timbers are some of the best in the industry, but the first one is quite heavy. The lightweight steel drum from Coan is going to be the best of both worlds in a high horsepower application that you expect extended life from.

 

Charlie @ATD builds many many Pro4, Pro2, Pro Lite, and desert class off road Th400's. They've used every part from nearly every manufacturer to find the best combination of strength and durability. Their off road customers will order 2-4 of the same $7000-$12,000 transmission and go as far as changing them between heats and mains to keep them cool and fresh clutches in the trucks. I can just about guarantee you that NO DRAG RACING transmission get abused like an off road trans. If you want an extreme transmission for your street/strip car, consult and purchase from someone than builds for more than 1800-3200# cars that only get beat on a 1/8-1/4 mile at a time.

 

I agree on the weight deal my junk is weighing 4250 .. HA HA and run only a 3.73 gear so its takes a beating.. So many base it on HP only well in a perfect world that might work but a taller gear more weight add into that factor as well.

 

Ps the lugs that the clutches engage into in an alum drum will wear out to. Make sure the friction disk tangs are softer than the drum, expect $400-$1000 aluminum drums/sprays to be disposable behind street driven 1500hp+ combinations.

 

....just dragging this thread back up....hopefully Crusty Nova is still around (or someone else can answer).....is there a specific friction you recommend which is softer on aluminum drum lugs as mentioned above?

 

If you want my 1.86 3speed ATI case TH400 it's at AT completely fresh. It will work great with a 3.20-3.90 rear gear depending on tire size, power, 1/8 or 1/4, etc... it's a $10,000+ to build new transmission. It'll hold 3500 w/o sweating and take a ton of Drag Week, trailer towing street miles. Put a Gear Vendors OD on the back, for the ultimate street car Trans that would be suitable for Larry Larson, Jeff Lutz or Tom Bailey's cars, I'll take $7500 for it

 

^What are you doing now?! Next logical step is a...lenco?

 

How does it stack up to the aluminum drum in terms of weight? Just thinking of the wellbeing of my feet.

 

I wasn't talking about the wear characteristics from personal experience. I don't have near enough time on mine to dive into that conversation. I was just throwing out the information ATI told me when I called and asked why anyone would run an aluminum one on the street. I drive mine on the street but not like the drag week guys, if I get to 3500 miles on this trans I'll gladly call the drum a replacement part and throw it in the scrap bin (not saying that is what everyone wants to do, I get that some people drive the shit out of theirs). I am curious about why not to run the steel 36 element drum as well aside from possible drum explosions.

 

TurboBu what transmission are you running now? 4L80, 400 or ?

 

Shane went to a Powerglide with a GearVendors overdrive.

 

....just dragging this thread back up....hopefully Crusty Nova is still around (or someone else can answer).....is there a specific friction you recommend which is softer on aluminum drum lugs as mentioned above?

It's not the frictions, its the steels that dig into the drum. Aluminum drums WILL have wear marks from the steels, no way around it. That is why we consider them consumable. Give up weight for speed or give up speed for durability. That how it goes.

 

will filing the indentations out of the drum lugs at rebuild time be okay?

 

There are coating procedures that are performed to virtually eliminate wear at the interface.

 

Chris, are you talking about hard anodizing or something else?